Toddler Squint Advice

[Jenb21]

I am looking for some reassurance. My daughter (3.5yrs) has developed a squint. I am told she has pretty good control of it. Sept last year it was so obvious for about a month and then she controlled it well until recently. This last month it just seems consistent. Her last hospital check (jan) showed vision back to normal in both eyes after patching for 2hr per day for the last 4 months. I was thrilled. But since then her eye in turning in almost all the time! We have a follow up in 4 weeks and a squint surgery consultation in June. But I need to hear your experience please, especially success stories. I need to stop worrying - I feel so unable to "help or control" this situation. She is absolutely oblivious to it and is happy and confident. It's mamma who is all it a tizzy!!!! Please reassure me!!

I have had a squint on and off all my life. I have had years of being able to control it but then it would get worse. My vision is equal in both eyes and I have excellent 3D vision both indicators of how well my eyes can work together. I have had three surgeries to help the muscles control my eyes and I have worn prisms to keep my vision single. My first surgery was at about 11 then about 15 then about 20yrs old. My eyes have been playing up for the last few years so I am heading back to the hospital to see what can be done. I was told after my last surgery that that was it but that was 20 odd years ago. Not sure if I could be described as a success story but I suppose 20 years of no prism or surgery could be described as a success. The things that make my eyes worse are close up work - iPads and smart phones I think have caused my current problems but I am addicted!!!!

Have to hospital ruled out longsightedness??

I has several operations to correct squints as a child. They're pretty minor surgery in the grand scheme of things. My vision is totally unaffected today. DD (2) also has a squint and we are on 6monthly orthoptic appointments. Dull but useful in assessing development. Please try and be calm about it all around your child as she will pick up on and magnify any anxiety you show.

Thank you for your replies. I have actually wondered about long sightedness. Her eye definitely turns noticeably when she is doing closer games (puzzles, writing etc). When we in the park or outside, her eyes look fine. But I also think when she has an adrenaline rush (playing laughing excited etc) her eye is straight. Any quiet activities it turns. I will ask them at the next appointment. We have orthoptic appointments every 2 months.

Sometimes children can lose squint control if they have been unwell or are particularly tired. She may well just have had a slight change to her eyesight, which if she has a high ac/a ratio can cause binocular vision to become unstable.

Don't worry, the appointment is fairly soon and they should re-check the vision at the hospital.

Thank you - that's interesting as we have had a month of non stop colds, tummy bugs and coughs. Definitely noticeable when she is tired and I think the return to preschool and all the bugs have all happened at once. Half term now so will give her lots of rest and hope she can recoup.

My son had this and I found it really stressful. Surgery improved it and now he wears glasses and only squints badly when tired. I got fed up with not really knowing what was going on so booked a private consult and then changed to the private guy on the nhs. Was worth the money for peace of mind if you could afford it!

This is definitely something I am thinking of doing. Just need to find someone local. Guessing I just do a Google search for a private consultant? Does it have to be a paediatric consultant we see? Maybe just phone around and ask

Most large hospitals will have a specialist paediatric ophthalmologist if you are seen at a smaller unit it is possible there might not be a dedicated paediatric surgeon, any child who has a convergent squint should have a cycloplegic refraction where drops are put in to check for longsight as many convergent squints are improved or even fully controlled by wearing glasses if there is longsight. There are many different types of convergent squint so the treatment needed will depend on the type of squint your daughter has